Daer had discovered Josie curled on the bathroom floor when he came to relay the latest test results. She was sobbing and clutching her stomach. He thought this was a new manifestation of the radiation poisoning, affecting humans in a more dramatic fashion. But, when he lifted her in his arms, she kept repeating, "My baby, please save my baby."

Understanding, he rushed to take her to the infirmary. "Josie, where is Maxxus? I will send someone for him. Having him near will help calm you, and that may stop the contractions. I would rather they stopped on their own."

"No, you can't tell him! He doesn't know about the baby, and now I don't want him to. He's got some twisted notion that I'm abandoning the planet and so he's removing me from his life. He's sending me back to live on the ship. He doesn't want me anymore!" she cried.

"Nonsense. You had an argument. Maxxus is good at those. It will all be over once he knows about the baby, especially when he sees you like this," Daer replied.

"Finding out I kept our baby a secret will make his anger worse. He'll see it as a betrayal, and he'll be right. I'm being punished for hiding it. Please, don't let the baby pay for my sins. I can't lose it too," Jose begged. "Don't tell anyone. It will get back to Maxxus if you do."

Daer decided the argument could wait. The less stress Josie had, the better the chances of her keeping her pregnancy. He made the choice to intervene, administering a medication that stopped the contractions and allowed her to sleep. She was installed in a small room, formerly used for storage, to separate her from the other patients. Thus, when Maxxus came to check on the sick, he did not find her.

During her week of bed rest, Josie managed to get Daer to cooperate in keeping her secret just between them. It became apparent as the days passed that Maxxus was shutting everyone out and refusing to listen to reason. The whole city was aware that Josie no longer resided in the palace. The mention of her name became forbidden. Maxxus made his belief that she was leaving clear to everyone, acting oblivious to the fact that she was still there.

Daer grew angry and disgusted with the king's attitude. He had thought the days of Maxxus's aloof superiority were gone. So, he chose to side with Josie, letting Maxxus remain in the dark about her condition. She stayed out of sight, in her lab, as weeks turned into months. Isolated, with only blood, air, water, and plant samples to keep her company, she began to see a pattern. She was on the verge of a discovery that she had every reason to believe would restore Talonia to paradise and bring health to its citizens.

Her solitude was shattered by Daer himself. He came to the lab, falling into the doorway, shaking and practically unhinged. Josie paled, fearing Maxxus had discovered her secret and was coming to rip the baby from her and send her to Earth.

Instead, the panic belonged solely to Daer. "Hope is sick. She lays limp, refusing to be nursed. Her pulse is weakening, and her breathing is slow. Shara just sits and rocks her, staring off into space. I gave her everything I used on the others. She is not responding."

Josie let go of her own fears. They were nothing in comparison to Daer's. Baby Hope was all that mattered. If her huge belly was noticed and reported to Maxxus, so be it. She would fight the battle for custody later if necessary. She began tossing supplies into a large bag, making sure to include her breakthrough notes. If her suspicions were founded on truth, then Hope had a chance.

Bundling herself in fur wrappings, which magically disguised her eight-month pregnancy, she handed the bag to Daer and stepped out into the freezing light of day. Talonia was solid white, except for the struggling plants beneath the domes and in the greenhouse. She caught a glimpse of a waterfall, the one outside Kelan's balcony. It was pale blue, with icicles forming in spots. The nearest volcano belched out a small flame, barely a flicker compared to when she had arrived. Wood fires dotted the city and the campground outside it. The citizens she spotted were hollow-eyed and thin. Locked away in the spacecraft, Josie had been shielded from how bad the devastation had grown. Daer had not spoken of it, apparently to save her the anxiety.

Grabbing his arm as tightly as she could with her gloved hand, she demanded, "Why didn't you say something? I would have cut my rations to a fourth and sent the food from the ship to help. I would have brought some of the campers inside the ship. You should have told me."

"I could not for exactly the reasons you speak of. For that baby to grow normally, you needed the extra calories. You were at risk of losing it already, so I could not expose you to the sick. We do not know if it can be passed from one person to another."

"It can't. I'm almost positive I know what's happening. It's not really a virus or a bacterial infection."

"Then what is it? Can it be reversed? Can Hope be saved?" he rattled on.

"I need to see her and run a quick test, but I think I can help her."

Shara had to be coaxed to allow Josie to touch Hope and still only Daer could take the small blood sample she required. Shara clung to the baby as Josie swabbed the back of her throat to test her theory.

As she stirred, mixed, and studied her findings under the microscope, Daer gathered the results of previous tests to compare. There it was: the answer to all the devastation. It had been right under their noses the whole time. The planet and its occupants were symbiotic. That's why the weredragons felt the compulsion to fly through the waterfalls or sit in the ash of the volcanoes. It was why those stationed on Earth savored the water they took with them and had to be rotated from time to time. At this point, they were in better health than the ones on the planet. How Kelan had survived on Earth for years was a mystery.

"Okay, let me see if I can explain this," she said to Daer and Shara. "The same element that is in dragon fire and made it what we needed to destroy the Xycon on Earth is what we require to save Talonia. It's the element I found in your atmosphere and those close to it that is missing from Earth's. It's in the waterfalls, the dirt, the volcanoes, the plants, and all life here. You eat it, breathe it, drink it, and soak it in from everywhere. Then, you emit it through your breath, sweat, dragon fire, and other bodily functions. The planet and all life on it act as a unit: perfect symbiosis. The nuclear bomb broke the connection. The solution from Earth helped for a short time but was missing the vital element. It wasn't being reproduced in the cycle from weredragon to planet. Both are being sucked dry of it. Every time I sent a new formula into the atmosphere, it lessened the amount of the necessary element. The atmosphere, planet, and inhabitants weakened. Humans haven't gotten sick because this is our atmosphere. Like on Earth, we breathe in the oxygen from the plants and emit carbon dioxide for the plants to use, allowing us to live here. Since it's not just oxygen that you need, some have lost the ability to transform or send out dragon fire. Ironically, the ones outside are doing better than those who live in homes. They're still drawing what little is left of the element from the air and ground. It's their connection that's keeping the waterfalls and volcanoes halfway alive. Hope has been stuck inside almost since she arrived. Her body doesn't have any of the element left. If she doesn't get it, we could lose her. If she was half human like Tae's or Kelan's children, then her human side would simply become dominant, and she would survive."

"Can you take it from me?" Daer and Shara offered at the same time.

"Actually, I'll need small amounts from you both. I refuse to deplete what you have. Hope wouldn't want either parent to die because of her. It would haunt her all her life, so don't argue with me. I can use small amounts from each of you to quickly get her better, but it will take more to keep her going and save Talonia. It can be replicated and grown artificially using samples from the entire population. I'll make an injectable version to get us started, for the citizens. They'll breathe it out and add it to the atmosphere while we grow more to release mixed in with the previous formula. The element will build on itself and reconnect the planet with the Talonians."

"You want to test this theory on Hope," Shara stated flatly. "What if you are wrong? Does her life not matter to you?"

"Shara, my love, the alternative is worse. She will die without intervention," Daer explained.

"Give her all of mine, no artificial substitutes. She may have guilty feelings, but she would survive," Shara demanded.

"I wouldn't dream of doing her harm," Josie confided. "The mixture won't make anything worse. What I give her won't be artificial. The growing process is what's artificial; the element is real. By artificial, I meant test tubes and lighting to force the real element to grow faster. There is no substitute to take its place. That's why the weredragons had to come to Earth and fight the Xycon. I'm sorry I used the wrong expressions and upset you needlessly. I'm so certain it's safe, I'll even inject myself with it. Look at me, Shara. Would I risk my own baby?" Josie removed her furs, revealing her large belly.

Shara's gasp echoed off the walls. She began to cry but nodded her agreement. Josie removed small samples, two from each of Hope's parents, from the back of their throats. That was where the organ that produced dragon fire was located and where the strongest source of the element resided. One of each was reserved in test tubes to grow, while the rest was mixed into a simple glucose solution and injected into Hope.

Now, the waiting began. However, the rest of the population needed help too. So Daer sent for the soldiers and took the required samples from them, then he brought in the campers, and finally the citizens who had not succumbed to the illness yet. He taught his friends how to take the samples in order to hurry the process along. He personally went to get a sample from Maxxus, trusting Josie to stay with Hope and Shara.

"I have no wish to be bothered," Maxxus stated when Daer arrived. "If you have come to bring more bad news, just leave. I have eyes and can see for myself that all hope is lost. Tomorrow I will announce the evacuation. Earth will have to find room for us. It seems I cannot rid myself of Josie after all."

"She will not leave, and neither will my family. You may have given up, but she did not. She has found the solution and Talonia will survive, without you if that is your wish. Our citizens still see her as queen and will gladly have her as ruler. They are disgusted with your attitude, as am I. What happened to the loving man who worked in the gardens, gloried in the birth of my daughter, and told stories to frightened children? The boy you aided in transforming fights against those who speak badly of you. Where is his hero?"

"That man left with Josie's betrayal. He was not real. He was a manifestation of what might have been. I was fine before she came. I could function and rule. She removed the wall around my heart, then stomped on it. What you see is a shell. Am I to assume she has made you believe there is a cure for Talonia? It will turn out to be another ploy, and she will leave for good. I find it hard to understand why she is still here. I heard her myself when she told her cohorts she would leave and how much she missed Earth."

"You heard the end of a conversation, and you let your fears overrule your head. Had you stayed and listened to her explanation, none of your pain would have come to pass. Your stubborn pride has caused the loss of many months you could have enjoyed at her side. It nearly cost you a lot more than that, but that is for Josie to tell, not me. She did not stomp on your heart. She cradles it within her, nurturing it to give back to you. She never betrayed you, not in the way you imagine, though you have forced her to keep secrets. She did not leave because this is home to her. You are home to her. Had you been privy to the entire conversation, you would have heard her tell the humans that she would never come back unless everyone had to. Right this minute, she is fighting to save my child, your niece, from death. I do not have time to waste arguing with you. Either you let me take the sample I came for and help restore Talonia, or I will be sure to let the people know you refused to be a part of saving us. You will get the revolt you always expected," Daer retorted.

"Take whatever you need. I will hold nothing back from Hope or my home. If my life can save the baby's, take it as well. As to Josie, she is better off without me. I am damaged beyond repair."

Daer chose to remain silent. He had planted the seed of doubt in Maxxus's mind and prayed it would sprout and grow. His mate still loved him, and she carried his heir beneath her heart. Their souls might be a bit tattered, yet they could be mended. Both would have to let go of their stubborn pride and speak clearly to one another. Josie would have to reveal her secrets and Maxxus would need to let his vulnerabilities show. He took the sample and left.

Maxxus was unsettled by Daer's speech. Had he allowed a misunderstanding to destroy his life? How many times had he started toward the spaceship only to let pride turn him around? He had to be right; that was all there was to it. If he admitted to making a mistake, he would lose all authority, would he not? Sitting there, it came to him with a hard slam to his head. He had made many mistakes and admitted them. What was different about this one? The difference was Josie. He wanted to be perfect in her eyes, and if that was not possible, then he did not want to be with her at all. Stubborn and prideful, he was the mistake that needed to be corrected. He needed one more day to find the right words, then he would make amends.